Polls show 2024 election is as tight as it could get

 Two major national polls conducted Sunday through Wednesday and released Friday indicate Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump are in a dead heat.

Grabbing headlines first is a New York Times/Siena College survey indicating the Democratic Party and GOP presidential nominees are tied at 48%. 

That's a switch from a previous poll, earlier this month, when Harris held a slight three-point edge.

A CNN survey had the candidates deadlocked at 47% among likely voters nationwide. Its previous poll from late September indicated the vice president had a razor-thin one-point margin.

There were warning signs in the two surveys for both candidates, however. 

Harris lost her favorability advantage over Trump in both polls.

After replacing President Biden atop the Democrats' 2024 ticket in July, the vice president's favorable ratings soared. But they've steadily eroded over the past month.

Another red flag for Harris are polls indicating her support among Black voters is below Biden's levels in the 2020 election.

For Trump, his support among White voters is on par with his standing in the 2020 election, when he lost the White House to Biden.

And the former president still faces a healthy deficit to the vice president when it comes to being trustworthy and caring about people.

While national polls are closely watched, the race for the White House is not based on the national popular vote. It's a battle for the states and their electoral votes.

And the latest surveys in the seven crucial battleground states whose razor-thin margins decided Biden's 2020 victory over Trump and will likely determine whether Harris or Trump wins the 2024 election, are mostly within the margin of error.

The latest Fox News national poll indicated Trump had a two-point edge, but Harris had a 6-point advantage among respondents questioned in all seven battleground states.